Insulating and medicinal pad for dental cavities



July 7, 1953 v. s. ROUB'IAN 2,644,232

INSULATING AND MEDICINAL' PAD FOR DENTAL CAVIKTIES Filed March 25, 195omvENToR wif/i s. Roya/,4N

BY i ATT NEY Patented July 7, 1953 A :fw a f t UNlTED-LS'TATESV.PA''ElVl' OFF-ICE *j l INSULATINGANn MEiiIcIAilfrAD Fon l' DENTALCAvrrIEs e Vah S. 'Ronbian, li/I'anhasse-z, N.4 Y.;

. Application March 25, 195o, serial No. '151,395

9 Claims.

. v l i This invention relates to an insulating and medicinal pad fordental cavities.

Dental cavities require special preparation, in order to adapt them toreceive a silicate, metal or plastic lling. It is not advisable to applythe filling directly to the floor of the cavity for the reason that thetooth is very highly sensitive in that area. It is common practice,therefore, to apply a plastic substance tothe sensitive area in order toinsulate the Ysame 'from' the filling. This practice requiresvthattheplastic substance be allowed to set before the filling is introducedinto the cavity. A time lapse of several minutes, hours, andveven daysmust accordingly be provided between the application "of the plasticinsulating substance and the application of the iilling material. Thedisadvantages inherent in this practice are obvious but no way hasheretofore been found to improve the practice, suiciently to overcomethese disadvantages.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide an insulatingmaterial which may be interposed between the sensitive areas in thedental cavity,V and the temporary or permanent filling, as the case maybe, andewhich will eliminate the need of a time lapse between theapplication of the insulating material and the application of the`filling material. More speciiically, the insulating material, which isherein described land claimed, assumes the form of a pad Vwhich may beplaced directly upon the sensitive area preparatory to-immediateapplicationof the filling material.. This insulatingmaterialin the formof a pad is mildly plastic' and it lends itself to being tamped down inthe cavity of the tooth to assume the contours of the sensitive area insaid cavity. There is no need to let this somewhat plastic pad setbefore filling the cavity in the usual manner. It is ready for thefilling operation the moment it is tampedintovconformity with thecontours'of the cavity wall. I e Y AThe insulating pad herein describedand claimed may be made in many different shapes and sizes and in manydifferent thicknesses and degrees of plasticity. Thepad may be made insmall disc, oval, orrectangular shapes, ready for insertion intocavities of different shapes and sizes. On the other hand, thisinsulating material may be provided in long stripsf or similar shapes,to be cut by each individual dentist in accordance with the individualrequirements -of 'each case. Thus a relatively large pad will be cut tothe requirements. of a relativelyv large cavity, and a relatively smallpad will be cut to the. requirements of.A arelatively small cavity.

Theshape of the cavity-or of the sensitive area therein will determinethe shape of the pad which ily stretch-orspread. The plasticInaterialvwith` which it is impregnated and coated -issufliciently'plastic to assume whatever shape is required of it underthe iniiuen'ce ofthe tamping instruyment.v Nonetheless, its plasticityis, controlled and coninedfbythe non-plastic base which it impregnates.In the preferred form of this invention, this plastic material issufliciently plas- .tic under room temperature to allow it to flow in'response tothe action of the tamping instrument.

There is no `need to apply heat or a solvent to soften it forthe'purpose under discussion.

y'The insulating" pad hereinv described and claimed is also medicatedfor sterilizing', seda- -tlve and I`other purposes. v It stronglyresists such chemical changes and' reactions as might otherwise take'place in the dental cavity.

Preferred forms'of this invention areshown in the'acco'mpany'ing drawingin which Fig.. 1 is a vertical section taken through a tooth havingadeepcavity, showing a pad made 'in accordance'with the presentinventionapplied to the sensitive area of the cavity wall and `showinga' conventional filling applied to the top `of vsaid pad.

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary' sectional view through a padmade in accordance with the present finvention'showing the com-v inaccordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3A is a side edge view thereof. Fig. 4 isa plan View of padmaterial provided inthe form of VV'a relatively long, narrow strip. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the same pad material showingit in the form of arelatively wide strip. Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a humanmolar I0. The several component parts of the tooth are designated in thedrawing as follows: e The crown enamel lisidentied by means of thereference character l I, the dentin by means of the` referencejcharacterI2, the pulp and pulp cavity` by means vof the reference'character I3vand the roots by means of the reference characters I4 and I 5respectively. As is well known, the pulp comprises a mass of nerve bersand blood vessels embedded in soft tissue and it is highly sensitive. Adeep cavity such as cavity shown in the drawing causes the tooth tobecome extremely sensitive in the area immediately above the pulp.cavity since .there is very little dentin left to insulate the pulp inthat area. vIt israccordingly necessary to provide artificial insulationto the sensitive area before the cavity 1is plugged up with filling 2|,whether that filling be of a temporary or permanent nature.`

The disc-shaped insulating pad 25 which is shown in Figs. 3 and 3A maybeinsertedi-nto cavity 20 in order to serve as insulating materialbetween what is left of the dentin-in saidzcavity and the nlling 2|.irregular in shape, it may be found desirable to insert an insulatingpad; similar to pad 25, but ofA correspondingly irregular shape. But inany 4case, the pad should be sufliciently :large Vand of suitable shapeto adequately cover the sensitive varea inthe cavity. The required shapeand-size nia-y be cut from narrow strip A or wide strip 2 5B -which aremade of the same material as pad V25. All that need be 'done to make useof the insulating pad herein claimed is to insert it into the cavityrand tamp it gently into conformity uwith the contours of the cavity inthe sensitive area. Once that is done, the lling may be introduced intothe cavity in the usual manner and vthe job is done.

Fig. '2 is a-greatly detailed cross-section which s'l'low's the`structure of the insulating pad very clearly. '.'It comprises a base ofa Vfine 'linen 'fabric'ZB lwhich is impregnated and coated on -bothsides with a plastic` insulating material 2l'. Linen as a base is muchto be preferred over other materials vbut it should be understoodnonethelessthat other materials such as strong paper vsheets may 'alsobe used to good advantage. `The plastic material may be suitable forinsulating ypurposes' only, butin the'preferred form of this` invention,it` 'isalso self-sterilizing and it has .sedative and other medicinalproperties. It is Ychemically .inert with respect to the tissues of ythe tooth and also with respect to the filling materials.

The plastic material with which the sheet material is impregnated andcoated comprises three component elements: There isfa'wax which servesas the body or base 'of thematerial vand Viticarries the other elementsof the material and :also `renders and maintains the material inrelatively plastic form. Secondly, there isafiller Awhich performs twoimportant functions: it V'lends' :body -to the plastic wax and gives itstrength, and it also provides the material asa 'whole with insulatingproperties. The third element of the plastic material is a medicinalsubstance which is sedative, antiseptic, and endowed withsterilizingproperties.

A preferred for-mula for this plastic material is fthe following: Y

Percent by volume Beeswax approximately 87 Eugenol approximately A4.Zinc-oxide approximately 9 Eugen'ol '(4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol) isobtained from clove oil and it is used in dentistry as an antiseptic andas-a local anesthetic. It is a 3phenolic'derivative. Another phenol,thymol'll- Cil If the cavity happens to rbe Yti'city :to the material.

lating nller. /Minerals-fsuchi as asbestos and calcium carbonate may beused as substitutes for vthe zinc oxide. The beeswax and its substitutesconstitute the rst element of the formula, namelyzthe wax body' or basewhich lends plas- Animal waxes such as spermacetirvegetable waxes suchas japan wax, and mineral waxes such as parafn wax may be :used ras.substitutesfor the beeswax.

The broad range of the proportions of the materials above set forthwhich may be utilized in connection with the present invention is asBeeswax (or substitutes) approx. to`90% by volume Engenol (orsubstitutes) approx. 4 of 1% to 15% by vvolume -Zmc ox1de(orsubstltutes) --.approx. 5% to 60%.by volume The'foregoing isdescriptive of preferred forms of this invention and it will beyunderstood that these'forms may vbe modified in many ways and otherforms may be added, all within the broad scope and spirit. of thisinvention.

For thefpurposes of claims, the following terminology will lbe used: Thebase of the insulating pad herein above described will be described intheclaims as being made of sheet material. The material nwith which.said sheet Vmaterial is irnpregnated 'and coated will be described inthe claims as plastic material.

I claim:

l. An insulating pad for dental cavities comprising a Iflat basewhichgisv made `of sheet material and which is impregnated with aplastic material consisting of a plastic body, an insulat-ing liller,and a medicinal substance.

`2. An insulatingrpad for dental cavities comjprising a lilat base whichis made of a sheet 'of y *fabric material impregnated 'and coated with,a

plastic Vmaterial consisting of 'a wax body, amineral insulating ller,and a phenolic medicinal felement.

An insulating pad for dental cavities Acome prising la sheet of fabricmaterial which is impregnated and coated with a plastic. substance'consisting lof a wax body, a zinc-oxide insulating filler, 'and'eugenol as a medicinal component thereof.

-4. -An' insulating pad `for ydental cavities'com- Apri-sing a sheet'offabric material which Ais impregnated and 'coated with av plasticmaterial "consisting -of a wax body approximately 50% to by volume, a,zinc oxide insulating filler approximately 5% `to 60% by volume, andeugenol as amedicinal component, 1A; of 1% to 15% by volume. p f

5. An insulating `pad for dental cavitiescomy`-prisingf-alinen'fabric-base which is impregnated with plasticmaterial consisting of a phenolic wax base anda mineral insulating ller.

'6. vAn insulating padjfor dental cavities 'comprising a linen fabricbase which Vis `impregnated with plastic material consisting of aphenolic wax base'and ller of zinc oxide vas an insulatin component.

'7. An `insulating pad for Idental cavities cornlprising a linen fabricbase which is impregnated and-coated with'a plastic materialconsistingof beeswax, approximately 87% by Volume, eugenol,approximately 4% by volume, and Zinc oxide, approximately 9% by volume.

8. A large insulating pad for dental cavities which may be cut to theindividual sizes and shapes of a plurality of dental cavities,comprising a sheet of fabric material which is impregnated and coated onboth sides with a plastic material consisting of a Wax body, a mineralinsulating filler, and a phenolic medicinal substance.

9. An insulating pad in accordance with claim 8, wherein zinc-oxide isthe insulating filler and eugenol is the phenolic medicinal substance.

VAH S. ROUBIAN.

References cited in the me of this 'patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

